Let’s Play Dr. Chaos!
Another Total Request July was kicked off by Dr. Chaos, a request from a viewer named Matt, and it was a solid request at that. Another instance of a game I wasn’t too familiar with growing up but was pleasantly surprised when it not only didn’t turn out to be a blood pressure raising affair like Ghosts and Goblins, but a pretty sweet game all around.
Let’s Play Dr. Chaos!
There was a whole backstory which I completely missed in this game but I think people filled me in subsequently in the comment section, because I never quite figured out if we were Dr. Chaos, if Dr. Chaos was a friend helping us or someone we had to rescue, or if he was the antagonist. I’m pretty sure he’s a he. That’s about all I’ve gleaned up to this point.
The game takes place in a sizable mansion with a dozen or so passageways which lead to a variety of different locations, each with their own look and feel to their environments. There were a number of items you could collect which would help, and I made it a point to take a few minutes off camera to collect supplies which subsequently made the rest of the game a lot easier.
I’ve talked about this before in the past, but I appreciate games which become substantially easier if you just put in a bit of time collecting something or leveling up. Normally you’d think I’d hate that kind of grinding, but so long as it’s not actual arduous level grinding, I can manage it.
Anyway, aside from the variety of environments and the mansion itself, there were a number of sort of 3D rooms where you had to poke around and search every wall for items, supplies, and hidden entrances to different parts of the mansion or levels.
All in all a unique game. I am starting to get a bit self-conscious at describing games as being “unique”, but honestly when there were so many clones for the NES just trying to copycat one another, I really appreciate the genuinely fresh games which blazed their own path and offered you something you couldn’t find in any other game, and Dr. Chaos is a brilliant example of just that. It’s also a nice example of when Total Request July goes right, because it can go wrong so easily…